There are countless alternatives to controlling weed growth with paraquat. Usually one attempts to find specific solutions for different uses. These include:

• preventive methods that never allow weeds to develop in the first place such as ground cover plants, mulch, or a specific crop rotation
• cultural methods to control weeds by means of intercropping (e.g. beans between bananas) or shade plants (e.g. for coffee)
• methods to eliminate existing weeds include weeding by hand, by machine, and herbicides less poisonous than paraquat.